The University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa School of Nursing and Dental Hygiene is the 16th member of the Nursing Education Xchange (NEXus), which is good news for both UH Mānoa Nursing students pursuing doctoral degrees and for the people of Hawai‘i.

NEXus began as a partnership among select Western universities offering doctoral programs in nursing (PhD and DNP) desiring to increase the range of specialty courses. Because doctoral programs are small in size, it is challenging for any one institution to offer a large number of courses. The concept of a regional educational collaborative is one approach to both increase access for students and fill empty seats in courses. The aim of NEXus, administered by the Western Institute of Nursing, is to expand the educational capacity of nursing doctoral programs in the U.S. through cooperative efforts. Doctoral nursing students at each NEXus partner academic institution can take courses at other schools of nursing (www.winnexus.org).

“By maximizing the use of online distance teaching, the 70 UH doctoral nursing students can take specialty courses that could not be offered at UH but which may be relevant to the student’s interest area. At the same time, students at a member university can enroll for courses offered at UH as long we have space available in the course,” said UH Mānoa Nursing Dean Mary G. Boland, DrPH, RN, FAAN. “This greater access will enable our students to more easily meet degree requirements, improve on-time graduation rates, and keep our future nurse leaders in Hawai‘i.”

NEXus consists of sixteen institutions that provide distance-accessible courses for nursing doctoral students. In addition to UH Mānoa, they are Arizona State University, Idaho State University, Loma Linda University, Oregon Health and Science University, University of Texas at Tyler, University of Buffalo, University of Colorado, University of Kansas, University of New Mexico, University of Nevada Las Vegas, University of Northern Colorado, University of Utah, Virginia Commonwealth University, and Washington State University.

Said UH Mānoa Nursing PHD student Elizabeth Freitas, APRN (Advance Practice Registered Nurse), “The NEXus Partnership is an exciting opportunity, providing us with more elective courses and the ability to experience learning from professors and other students outside of UH. NEXus will allow for a streamlined process to enroll in these courses, and we’re also looking forward to them being offered in a cost-efficient manner.”

The NEXus Memorandum of Agreement for partnership was approved on July 15, 2013, by the UH Office of the President, through the Offices of the UH Mānoa Chancellor and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs and Graduate Education.

For more information about the NEXus program at UH Mānoa Nursing visit www.nursing.hawaii.edu/nexus.